The most powerful woman in football wanted Lewandowski. “He is power. He rules”

This is an updated version of the text that we published on September 11, 2020,

The photo with her is like an entrance ticket to Chelsea – a contract on the table, in the background a wall with sponsors’ logos and the wide smile of a new footballer. Granowska poses almost always the same way, so fans joke that at least there will be no discussion of what her statue should look like in front of Stamford Bridge. She is behind the spectacular transfers, negotiations with coaches and the day-to-day functioning of the club. He is the right hand of Roman Abramowicz, the owner.

“An elegant, very beautiful woman who knows a lot about the ball”

Little is known about Granowska – years ago she took a vow of silence and, like she does not give interviews. She does not exist on social media, does not appear at conferences and lectures, although they regularly invite her to talk about football and women’s power. In the past, the organizers of the “Women in football” discussion, despite their refusal, used her photo for promotion, and later they had nowhere to accommodate all the listeners. Paparazzi followed her for years, but they didn’t shoot an interesting photo. This inaccessibility and mystery adds to its prestige. She does not say anything herself, but others talk about her uncompromising attitude, firmness, professionalism and negotiation methods: coaches, agents and presidents of other clubs.

Aurelio De Laurentiis, Napoli president, sang at a press conference: “Marina, Marina …” when journalists attacked him for selling. Beppe Marotta recalled that when Granowska hears too high a price, she just gets up from the table and leaves. Juventus’ Fabio Paratici admits that hardly anyone can negotiate as well as she does. – With her, “no” means “no”, which is, however, quite rare in football. More often it means: let’s have a few more meetings and try to get along – writes “The Telegraph”. She put John Terry under a one-year contract in front of his nose and told him to “sign or bust …”, and Antonio Conte gave him no choice but to leave immediately. Cezary Kucharski tells us how she was going to download Robert Lewandowski.

– She’s very specific. We did not waste time talking about Polish-Russian relations, but immediately went into the details: why they want Robert, what is their plan for him, what are they proposing – the former agent recalls. – Besides, she is an elegant, very beautiful woman who has a lot of knowledge about the ball, understands perfectly how certain mechanisms work and negotiates well. Simply professional.

Marina Granowska – eyes and ears of Roman Abramowicz

She was born 45 years ago in Russia, although it is not even known in what city. Due to the lack of lacquer, she was assigned Moscow, because there in 1997 she graduated with honors from the faculty of foreign languages ​​and started working at Sibneft, a large petrochemical enterprise then owned by Roman Abramowicz. The Russian bought Chelsea in 2003 and began moving his best men to London to look after the club’s affairs on a daily basis. Until today, three of Chelsea’s four top executives are people who have worked with him before. Granowska started with simple matters: she organized work in his office, booked plane tickets, invited guests to the VIP sector. She gained contacts, her influence grew. Today he is the eyes and ears of Abramowicz who does not visit London. Would you like to make an appointment with him? First you need to turn to her. The coach has a question? Granowska probably knows the answer. Need to negotiate a transfer? Marina will do the best. Does the club’s contract with the sponsor expire? She will find another one who will pay even more. A footballer wants to leave the club? Granowska will still talk to him. Need to find a new coach? It has a number for everyone. “He’s a power at Chelsea, leaves no doubt who rules the club.” Roman trusts her immensely, says the source of the Evening Standard.

Granowska changed the way the club works. She moved Chelsea to a new training facility in Cobham, negotiated a record £ 60m contract with Nike a season. Once upon a time, Chelsea would come for a player, ask “how much?” and overpaid many times. Now it sells dearly – profit from the last five years is more than 500 million pounds. No club at that time made more money from transfers. Granowska not only bargains for every pound, but also softens the manners, thanks to which Jose Mourinho could return to Chelsea, despite the poor relationship with Abramowicz. But such a Maurizio Sarri was bothered by the fact that he was ruled by a woman. Z did not speak for several months as he wanted to decide on transfers. She chased them both away.

Football is about having fun. And having fun means successes and trophies

To get to Granowska’s office, you have to pass a few security guards. Marina doesn’t like unannounced visits. By appointment, you have to come on time, the most powerful woman in football doesn’t have much time. He is a hybrid of several managerial positions. It was best and simply described by “The Guardian” as the most important after Abramowicz. He decides everything: one day he buys a footballer for 60 million, the next he signs a contract with his favorite Sumosan restaurant to have her dishes served during matches in the VIP lounge. There are old, noble, wooden furniture in her office. There is no plaque with the names of the players to buy, although since 2017, when technical director Michael Emenalo left the club, he has personally been responsible for transfers from start to finish. Previously, she specialized in conducting negotiations. – She is good at it, acts from a position of strength, has the full support of her boss. She is always well prepared, she uses her network of contacts to investigate the situation in the club from which she wants to buy a player – said Klaus Allofs, Wolfsburg director, “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”.

The Germans admire how she conducted talks on the case. Her negotiating position was difficult: the footballer had a contract until 2022 without a buyout clause, Bayer Leverkusen wanted 100 million euros for him and repeated that there was no way to count on any reduction due to the coronavirus, and Chelsea – according to the English media – did not want to pay more than 80 million euros. Ultimately, the price was brought down to 67 million. Saving is one thing. Granowska did not want to break the club’s transfer record (80 million for Kepa Arrizabalaga), that this label – the most expensive Chelsea in history – would not weigh on Havertz.

She understands Abramovich’s translation best of what football is all about. – For fun. And good fun means successes and trophies – explained the Russian already in 2003. Granowska knows the way to these successes very well. She won last season – six months after a courageous change of coach, which she decided on despite the fact that Frank Lampard himself, the club legend, had to be fired – is a confirmation of this.